The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to antennas, and more particularly to patch antennas.
Satellite navigation systems are well known for providing autonomous geo-spatial positioning. Satellite navigation systems typically include a constellation of satellites that orbit the earth. The constellation of satellites enables an electronic receiver to determine its location (e.g., longitude, latitude, and altitude) using time signals that are transmitted by radio frequency (RF) waves from the orbiting satellites. Satellite navigation systems with global coverage are commonly referred to as global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs). Although GNSSs have global coverage, different GNSSs may serve different regions. For example, different GNSSs may serve the United States, Europe, and Russia. Each different GNSS includes its own constellation of satellites that operates within its own frequency bands. In other words, different GNSSs that serve different regions may operate within different frequency bands.
Patch antennas are commonly used with electronic receivers for communicating with GNSS satellite constellations. A patch antenna is a type of antenna that typically includes a flat sheet, or patch, of metal that is mounted over a ground plane. Known patch antennas are not without disadvantages. For example, the frequency band of at least some known patch antennas may be too narrow to enable the patch antenna to communicate with one or more of the different GNSS satellite constellations. Specifically, at least some known patch antennas operate over a relatively narrow frequency band that does not overlap the frequency band of one or more of the different GNSS satellite constellations. The patch antenna therefore cannot communicate with such a GNSS satellite constellation because the patch antenna does not operate within the frequency band of the GNSS satellite constellation. For example, the frequency band of a patch antenna may overlap, or fall entirely within, the frequency band of a first GNSS satellite constellation that serves a region. But, the frequency band of the patch antenna may be too narrow to overlap the frequency band of a second GNSS satellite constellation that serves a different region. Accordingly, the patch antenna is capable of communicating with the first GNSS satellite constellation but is not capable of communicating with the second GNSS satellite constellation. The frequency band of at least some known patch antennas may be so narrow that the patch antenna is limited to communicating with a particular GNSS satellite constellation using only portion (i.e., a sub-band) of the frequency band of the GNSS satellite.
Another disadvantage of at least some known patch antennas is their size. For example, a single electronic receiver may be associated with a plurality of patch antennas that are grouped together in an array. But, there may be a limited amount of space for containing the array of patch antennas, which may limit the number of patch antennas that can be included within the array. For example, the width and/or a similar dimension (e.g., diameter and/or the like) of at least some known patch antennas limits the number of patch antennas that can be arranged side-by-side in the available space.